Rabbi Eliyahu Warns That Power Can Lead to Pride and Ruin

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the chief rabbi of Safed, used this week’s Torah portion on Friday to warn that a nation can fall precisely when it is at its strongest. He linked the story of Korach to the current period, saying Israel must show strength against its enemies while guarding against arrogance.

Eliyahu said that success, wealth and wisdom can become a trap. To illustrate the point, he cited King Uzziah, whom he described as “very wise, very rich, very successful, very strong,” but whose heart grew proud “to his destruction.” In his account, Uzziah tried to enter the sanctuary with incense, and “the earth shook” and seemed ready to swallow him like Korach’s assembly.

According to Eliyahu, Uzziah was punished with leprosy and was forced into isolation for the rest of his life. He said this was “a sin that comes from power and strength,” and that it is “waiting at our door” in the era of redemption. He argued that as the final redemption approaches, Israel must be strong enough to “fight its enemies, and win, and sanctify God’s name.”

At the same time, he warned that there is a real danger of spiritual decline through a sense of “my power and the strength of my hand.” He said, “We must always remember that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the one who gives us the power to prevail,” and concluded with a prayer to remember this and reach the complete redemption.